To become sustainable, Europe must change some of the ways people live, work, produce and consume. Using policy to achieve such complex and large-scale transformations is not easy. This briefing from the European Environment Agency (EEA) explores how to future-proof sustainability policies and avoid blind spots through a foresight-based framework, which includes several participatory exercises … Continue reading EEA briefing on how to future-proof sustainability policies
Author: Rod Janssen
Energy in Demand, July 7, 2024
The Financial Times columnist, Martin Wolf, argued this week (behind a paywall) that market forces are not enough to halt climate change. He notes that our efforts to decarbonise are going poorly. Furthermore, people just do not want to pay the price of decarbonising the economy. In explaining the global rise in electricity from fossil … Continue reading Energy in Demand, July 7, 2024
Ending poverty and environmental catastrophe demands fresh thinking
Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, writes on the Guardian website that economic growth allows the few to grow ever-wealthier and there is a need to have economic growth based on human rights. What are your views? Obsession with growth is enriching elites and killing the planet. We … Continue reading Ending poverty and environmental catastrophe demands fresh thinking
Helping youth become resilient in the face of climate change
Patricia Lane & McKenna Corvello write on the National Observer website about an initiative by a Canadian university graduate student to equip the next generation to be emotionally resilient climate leaders. What are your views? Equipping emotionally resilient climate leaders McKenna Corvello helps youth become resilient in the face of climate change. This 23-year-old … Continue reading Helping youth become resilient in the face of climate change
EEA review of EU’s Climate-ADAPT online platform
While European countries have made considerable progress in putting in place policies to adapt to climate change, the pace and scale of adaptation actions need to increase and widen to cover more areas like the health, agriculture, and forestry sectors. A European Environment Agency (EEA) review of the EU’s Climate-ADAPT online platform, published recently, shows … Continue reading EEA review of EU’s Climate-ADAPT online platform
Blog by Stephen Davies: Natural gas is ‘clean’: unveiling the myth and proposing a sustainable alternative
The imperative to pivot toward sustainable energy practices has never been more critical, given the escalating climate emergency facing our planet. Against this backdrop, many are telling people that natural gas is a ‘clean’ alternative to conventional fossil fuels. However, this assertion skims over the complex, often detrimental environmental ramifications associated with its extraction and … Continue reading Blog by Stephen Davies: Natural gas is ‘clean’: unveiling the myth and proposing a sustainable alternative
For the EU to meet its climate goals, a strong policy push is needed to redirect financial flows towards transition financing
In a news item on the Euractiv website, a new report by the European Climate Neutrality Observatory provides the state of EU progress to climate neutrality, emphasising investment really needs to ramp up. EU needs to double investment to meet climate goals: report The European Union needs to double targeted investment to meet its … Continue reading For the EU to meet its climate goals, a strong policy push is needed to redirect financial flows towards transition financing
AI drives 48% increase in Google GHG emissions
The tech giant’s goal of reducing its climate footprint is at risk as it grows increasingly reliant on energy-hungry data centres. Overall, Google says about two thirds of its energy is derived from carbon-free sources but it’s obviously not enough. Dan Milmo discusses Google’s challenges in an article on the Guardian website. Google’s emissions … Continue reading AI drives 48% increase in Google GHG emissions
The important role climate social scientists play
In an article on The Conversation website, Matthew Hoffmann, Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of Environmental Governance Lab, University of Toronto discusses the important role that climate social scientists can play to help us address climate change. In a survey of many of these social scientists, importantly there’s a conscious commitment to positivity in … Continue reading The important role climate social scientists play
New EEA report on how can Europe stay the course on sustainability amid shocks and crises
How can Europe stay the course on sustainability amid shocks and crises? How do we anchor environment and climate priorities with other emerging ones like security, competitiveness and fairness without losing sight of the long-term sustainability objective of ‘living well within the limits of our planet’? A new strategic foresight report, published by the European … Continue reading New EEA report on how can Europe stay the course on sustainability amid shocks and crises
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 